From Jim Crow to Juan Crow

The Jim Crow South


Jim Crow era cotton workers from Vaiden Mississippi website

The Juan Crow South


Juan Crow image from the discount foundation

Tyson and the Beauty of Vertical Integration

Tyson employess 114,000 around the world

Tyson has more than 300 facilities and offices world wide

There are 65 poultry processing plants in Arkansas

Tyson also controls close to half of the chicken production in Mexico

Arkansas is the number two chicken producing state in the nation

Arkansas is third in turkey production
________

Live kill is when fully conscious birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles on a moving rail

Live hang workers are doing one of the most dangerous jobs on the factory floor

This step in the process is performed in near-total darkness in order to quiet the birds

About 200 chickens per minute are moving into the live hang room

As workers finally hoist the birds onto the hooks the chickens urinate and defecate onto the workers below

Live kill workers experience large-scale violence that has been proven to lead to serious psychological trauma for the worker

The large scale violence of slaughtering also affects the collective consciousness of communities located around processing plants.

Communities surrounding slaughterhouses consistently have higher rates of violent crime than other demographically similar counties.

Six of the top twenty manufacturing employers in the northwest region of Arkansas are poultry plants

Within a 30 mile radius of the Workers’ Center in Springdale, Arkansas there are 10 poultry processing and hatchery plants
_______

Poultry workers hourly earnings remain the lowest in the entire food industry

One in twelve Arkansans earns a living in the poultry industry

Arkansas has 1 in 4 children living in poverty

Arkansas women earn on average $19,100.00 per year

This is the lowest median earning for women in the nation

Women in Arkansas receive wages that are twenty-five percent below their male counterparts earnings

Nationally immigrant populations in poverty are at the seventeenth percentile

In Arkansas 26% of immigrants live below the poverty line

Advocates for women who have experienced violence in the home connect domestic violence and poverty issues

With the inequality in women’s earnings, and its connection to violence, it is therefore not surprising that the state of Arkansas is number three in the nation in murder by men of women
______

The U.S. government provides Tyson and its three closest competitors with feedstock subsidies that total 1.25 billion dollars a year.

In Arkansas processing plants are no longer required to pay state sales tax for the “cost of materials used in the manufacturing, processing or production of poultry product.

In 2009 Arkansas will cut 107 million dollars from the budget for state services which include Medicaid and funding for colleges.

Arkansas public libraries are required to pay sales tax on books
_____

Tyson's market research showed that consumers wanted to buy products from a company with christian values

Tyson has 128 chaplains in their plants

Tyson published a prayer book for workers and consumers

The Tyson family built a subdivision and golf course and named it The Blessings.

Workers, Poverty and Immigration

Arkansas is an environment plagued by economic violence. Despite the presence of five companies that generate the highest amount of revenue for corporations headquartered in the United States, Arkansas struggles to keep its working families above the poverty line. Nationally immigrant populations in poverty are at the seventeenth percentile. In the Northwest corner of our state where both Tyson and Wal-Mart are headquartered 26% of immigrants live below the poverty line (Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, 2006). Nationally 17 % of immigrants live below the poverty line.

In the state of Arkansas 1 in 4 children live in poverty. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2006) the state with the lowest ranking economy for women is Arkansas. On average Arkansas women only earn $19,100.00 per year. Hispanic women in Arkansas earn only $17,700.00 per year. These are the lowest median earnings in the nation (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2000).

The need for a safe & justice workplace that pays a living wage has outcomes that are unique for women. A women living in poverty i.e. working a low wage job or who is underemployed is more likely to experience violence in the home (Davies, 2002). Domestic violence makes it difficult for women to achieve financial stability as well as poverty being a barrier to dealing with the abuse at home (Davies, 2002) With the inequality in women’s earnings, and its connection to violence, it is therefore not surprising that the state of Arkansas is number three in the nation in murder by men of women (Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, 2000).

In Rogers and Springdale police have undertakin training in “immigration enforcement” more widely known as 287-G. This program exists for the purpose of identifying and detaining undocumented workers. 287-G actually deputizes the police force to act as immigration officers. This new program has intensified the culture of fear among Latino residents.

Arkansas state policy serves to protect the interests of the business owners at the expense of the worker. The Arkansas State Department of Labor can only investigate unpaid wage claims that are less than $1,000. The federal Department of Labor will only investigate wage claims when a company makes more than $500,000 annually. This has left a large number of workers who have no place to file a claim. Another issue for workers are hot payroll checks. A lot of payroll checks are written on a closed or overdrawn bank account. There is little to assist these workers because Arkansas state law reads in such a way to allow county prosecutors to choose to not prosecute hot payroll checks.